97 Best Sights in The Basque Country, Navarra, and La Rioja, Spain

Paintings by Ribera, Picasso, and the Basque painter Zuloaga adorn the walls of this exuberant baroque building, whose collection spans the 18th to the 20th centuries.

In a 16th-century building once used as a hospital for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela, this museum has a collection of regional archaeological artifacts and historical costumes. Placards are Spanish-only.

The craft and history of fishermen and the fishing industry, from whales to anchovies, are the subject of this museum. The tower was built by native son Alonso de Ercilla y Zuñiga (1533–94), poet and eminent soldier. Ercilla's "La Araucana," an account of the conquest of Arauco (Chile), is considered one of the best Spanish epic poems.

Designed by celebrity architect Rafael Moneo, this contemporary art museum and event space is on the University of Navarra campus. It has an exceptional photograph collection dating to the birth of photography as an art form, and the permanent art collection features classic works by Rothko, Picasso, Kandinsky, and Tàpies.

This town was the capital of Navarra and La Rioja until 1076, when the latter became part of Castile and the residence of the Castilian royal family. The monastery of Santa María la Real ( www.santamarialareal.net), the \"pantheon of kings,\" is distinguished by its 16th-century Claustro de los Caballeros (Cavaliers' Cloister), a flamboyant Gothic structure with 24 lacy plateresque Renaissance arches overlooking a grassy patio. The sculpted 12th-century tomb of Doña Blanca de Navarra is the monastery's best-known sarcophagus, while the 67 Gothic choir stalls dating from 1495 are among Spain's best.

This town, 14 km (9 miles) west of Logroño via the A12, has noble houses and the 16th-century Santa María de la Asunción church. The village is also famous for its painted ceramics; shop at any of the artisan shops in the town center.

An unforgettable glimpse into the Kingdom of Navarra of the Middle Ages is the reward for journeying to this town. The 11th-century church of San Pedro is revered for its finely worked Romanesque cloisters and portal, but it's the town's storybook castle—restored by Carlos III in the French style and brimming with ramparts, crenellated battlements, and watchtowers—that dazzles the imagination. You can walk the ramparts, and should you get tired or hungry, part of the castle has been converted into a parador, making a fine place to grab a snack or catch a few z's.

This graceful manor-house design is the only one of its kind left in Bilbao—an elegant and sweeping country estate with classic caserío (farmhouse) details amid the generally hard-edged Ensanche district. Now the official seat of the Athletic Bilbao soccer club, the house was originally the residence of the de la Sota family, whose most outstanding member, Ramón de la Sota, founded the company Euskalduna and became one of the most important shipbuilders in Europe. His company specialized in ship repair and opened shipyards in New York, London, Rotterdam, and Paris. Knighted, with the title "Sir," by Great Britain for his services to the Allied cause in World War I, de la Sota went on to found the Euskalerria Basque rights organization, which later joined forces with the Basque Nationalist Party. Because of his affiliation with Basque nationalism, Sir Ramón de la Sota's properties and businesses were seized by the Franco regime in 1939 and not returned to the family until 1973. You can step inside the lobby, but the house is no longer open to the public for tours. It's nevertheless still worthwhile to view from the outside.

Architect Luis Aladrén created this intensely decorated facade, just two blocks from Plaza Moyúa, for the seat of the Diputación (provincial government) in 1900. A manifestation of the bullish economic moment Bilbao was experiencing as the 20th century kicked off, the building was much criticized for its combination of overwrought aesthetic excess on the outside and minimally practical use of the interior space. The 19th-century Venetian motifs of its halls and salons, the chapel, and the important collection of paintings and sculptures are the best reasons to see the inside of the building.

One of Vitoria's oldest and most splendid buildings, this palace was erected in 1488 and reformed in 1535 and 1865. It's reached from the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca along Calle de Herrería, which follows the egg-shape outline along the west side of the old city walls. It is not open for tours.

The heart of Estella is the arcaded Plaza San Martín and its chief civic monument, the 12th-century Palacio de los Reyes de Navarra. The palace now houses the Museo Gustavo de Maeztu, displaying work from a 20th-century Navarran painter, Gustavo de Maeztu y Whitney. The building itself is what's really impressive, but the museum is free so you might as well have a peek.

This park, with bridges, gazebos, and man-made hills, offers a nice respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. At Christmastime, it morphs into one enormous nativity scene that kids go nuts over.

Across Virgen Blanca, past the monument and the handsome Victoria Café stands this arcaded neoclassical square with the austere elegance typical of 19th-century municipal architecture.

In the southwest corner of old Vitoria, this plaza—the nerve center of the Casco Viejo—is ringed by noble houses with covered arches and white-trim glass galleries. The monument in the center commemorates the Duke of Wellington's victory over Napoléon's army here in 1813.

The heart of Pamplona is this spacious square, lined with restaurants, cafés, and arcaded buildings. There's never a dull moment in the warren of narrow streets just beyond the plaza, especially Calle San Nicolás.

This roomy square at the upper edge of the Casco Viejo honors Bilbao's greatest intellectual, Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936), the philosopher, novelist, professor, and public figure. Unamuno wrote some of Spain's most seminal works including Del sentimiento trágico de la vida en los hombres y los pueblos (The Tragic Sense of Life in Men and Nations). His Niebla (Mist) is generally accepted as the first existentialist novel, published in 1914 when Jean-Paul Sartre was but nine years old.

This 64-arch neoclassical plaza, built in 1851, is known for its Sunday-morning flea market, December 21 Santo Tomás festivities, and restaurants. Note the size of the balconies (the bigger the balcony, the richer the original proprietor) and the tiny windows near the top of the facades, where servants' quarters would've been. The building behind the coat of arms (bearing the tree of Gernika, a symbol of Basque autonomy) houses the Euskaltzaindia, or Academy of the Basque Language. The bars and shops around the arcades include two Victor Montes establishments, one for pintxos at Plaza Nueva 8 and the other for sit-down dining at No. 2. Café Bar Bilbao (No. 6), aka Casa Pedro, has Belle Époque interiors accented by photos of early Bilbao, while Argoitia (No. 15), across the square, has a nice angle on the midday sun.

This footbridge just downriver from the prow of the Mercado de la Ribera was traditionally known as the Puente del Perro Chico for the 25-cent coin once charged as a toll for crossing. Until Calatrava's Zubizuri was built in 1997, this was the only pedestrian bridge of Bilbao's nine river crossings. The bridge is officially named the Puente-Pasarela Conde Mirasol for the street it leads into.

Many of Logroño's monuments, such as this stone bridge with long, swooping arches, were built as part of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route.

A jasper niche in the lateral facade of this Gothic church contains the Virgen Blanca (White Virgin), Vitoria's patron saint.

Honoring the patron saint of mariners, San Nicolás de Bari, the city's early waterfront church was built over an earlier hermitage and consecrated in 1756. With a striking baroque facade over the Arenal, originally a sandy beach, the church weathered significant damage at the hands of French and Carlist troops in the 19th century. Sculptures by Juan Pascual de Mena adorn the interior. Look for the oval plaque to the left of the door marking the high-water mark of the flood of 1983.

This church has a beautiful cloister and a stunning carved portal.

In a 16th-century monastery behind the parte vieja, to the right (northeast) of the church of Santa María, the former chapel, now a lecture hall, was painted by José María Sert (1876–1945). Creator of notable works in Barcelona's city hall, London's Tate Gallery, and New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel, Sert's characteristic tones of gray, gold, violet, and earthy russet enhance the sculptural power of his work here, which portrays events from Basque history. The museum displays Basque ethnographic items, such as prehistoric stelae once used as grave markers, and paintings by Zuloaga, Ribera, and El Greco.

This sanctuary, about 20 km (12 miles) south of Zumaia in Cestona, is an exuberant churrigueresque-baroque structure erected in honor of Íñigo Lopez de Oñaz y Loyola (1491–1556) after he was canonized in 1622 for his defense of the Catholic Church against the tides of Martin Luther's Reformation. Almost two centuries later, Roman architect Carlos Fontana designed the basilica that memorializes the saint. The ornate construction contrasts with the austere lifestyle of St. Ignatius, who took vows of poverty and chastity after his conversion. Polychrome marble, flamboyant altar work, and a huge but delicate dome decorate the interior. The fortresslike tower house has the room where Ignatius (Eneko in Euskera) experienced conversion while recovering from a wound received in an intra-Basque battle.

This octagonal church in Muruzabal was once used as a burial place for pilgrims.

A stop on the Camino de Santiago, this town is named after an 11th-century saint who built roads and bridges for pilgrims and founded the hospital that is now a parador. The cathedral ( Calle Cristo  94/134--0033) is a Romanesque-Gothic pile containing the saint's tomb, choir murals, and a walnut altarpiece carved by Damià Forment in 1541. The live hen and rooster in a plateresque stone chicken coop commemorate a legendary local miracle in which a pair of roasted fowl came back to life to protest the innocence of a pilgrim hanged for theft. Be sure to stroll through the beautifully preserved medieval quarter.

Distinguished for accumulating the deepest water of any building in the casco viejo during the disastrous 1983 flood, as can be witnessed by the water mark more than 14 feet above the floor in the back of the church (to the left as you come in), this simple baroque church was the first Jesuit building in Bilbao, built in 1604. Originally the home of the Colegio de San Andrés de la Compañía de Jesús (St. Andrew's School of the Order of Jesuits), the original school is now divided between the Museo Vasco and the church dedicated to both St. Johns—the Evangelist and the Baptist. The church's most important relic is the Relicario de la Vera Cruz (Relic of the True Cross), a silver-plated cross containing what is widely believed to be the largest existing fragment of the cross used at Calvary to execute Jesus in AD 33.

In a city as noble and staid as Vitoria, you don't expect to find world-class street art, but the parallel streets of Anorbin and Carnicerías in the old town prove otherwise. Feast your eyes on multistory, thought-provoking murals depicting family scenes, landscapes, and political issues. See it all on a new, official \"mural itinerary\" guided tour (inquire at the tourism office for details).

Occupying a century-old tobacco factory, this modern cultural center hosts a variety of performances, exhibitions, and screenings (check the website for upcoming events). The roof deck affords pleasing views of the river and skyline.

A century ago, this 1,500-seat theater was as exciting a source of Bilbao pride as the Guggenheim is today. Built between 1886 and 1890, when Bilbao's population was a mere 35,000, the Teatro Arriaga represented a gigantic per-capita cultural investment. Always a symbol of Bilbao's industrial might and cultural vibrancy, the original \"Nuevo Teatro\" (New Theater) was a lavish Belle Époque, neo-baroque spectacle modeled after the Paris Opéra by architect Joaquín Rucoba (1844–1909). The theater was renamed in 1902 for the Bilbaíno musician considered \"the Spanish Mozart,\" Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga (1806–26).

After a 1914 fire, the new version of the theater opened in 1919. Following years of splendor, the Teatro Arriaga (along with Bilbao's economy) gradually lost vigor; it closed in 1978 for restoration work that was finally concluded in 1986. Now largely eclipsed by the splendid and more spacious Palacio de Euskalduna, the Arriaga stages opera, theater, concerts, and dance events September through June. Walk around the building to see the stained glass on its rear facade and the exuberant caryatids holding up the arches facing the river.